The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter

"Time and time again, Peter Orner has gifted us doors into worlds that remind us, no matter our differences, how connected we are to each other and how much farther we need to traverse to be better. With his first novel in fifteen years, Orner continues to surprise and guide: this is fiction that captures so perfectly a family’s mysteries, secrets, and history; and in doing so, captures the story of our country. It’s also one of the finest stories on the ever-complex topic of friendship—and the importance of friendship—I have ever read. Which is to say: here is a friend for you, when you need it the most."

"The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter is a monumental tapestry stitched from history’s scraps: neighborhood rumors, family legends, and unsolved mysteries. It’s a novel about the secrets we keep, the answers we seek, the unfinished business of the pasts we inherit. Peter Orner has already cemented his reputation as one of the great chroniclers of life in Chicago. With The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter he has become one of the great chroniclers of life full stop."

“Masterfully written, funny, often achingly moving, The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter confronts us with at least two central questions: how much of our own daily fumblings in life are passed down to us? And how, precisely, does one learn to love and be loved anyway? There’s more here too, of course – the seductive power of celebrity, the ties that should bind but do not – but I’ll let you discover these on your own as you treat yourself to this truly unforgettable novel. If there is a more daring and original narrative voice in contemporary American fiction than Peter Orner’s, then I don’t know whose it is.” 

“A writer’s investigation into the mysterious death of a Hollywood starlet is a springboard for Peter Orner’s brilliant and powerfully moving portrait of two Chicago families whose braided lives tell an indelible story of politics, social history, and most of all love—bruising, inexplicable, and enduring love.  The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter is exquisitely conceived, vast in its reach, and tender in its mercies. Orner is, quite simply, one of the finest writers of our time.”

“The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter is a fascinating fictional account of a real-life tragedy that captures a Chicago that has largely disappeared. A must-read for anyone interested in Chicago, the underworld, show business, and the important role of gossip columnists during the period between World War Two and the 1960s. Peter Orner weaves an absorbing tale of friendships gone wrong, gangsters, murder, and the struggles of a writer trying to understand both his and his family’s past.”